Regardless of the strength of the job market, recruiting top talent always ranks high on a company’s list of priorities. A finite number of “A” players exist. (They wouldn’t be classified as “A” players if the supply was limitless).
Companies grow when they can bring that top talent to their team and they grow even more when they can keep that top talent for an extended period. The recruitment process takes time. What are effective marketing strategies for companies (from start to finish) for recruiting that top talent, getting them to jump ship and come to your company, and keeping them on your team for years.
Brand Awareness
Whether your desired job candidate works for your competitor or in a totally different industry or city, staying top-of-mind starts at the recruitment and marketing funnel.
It doesn’t have to be in a digital-only capacity. Are you promoting exciting announcements for your company? Do you have billboards in the right places? Are you sponsoring local community events and getting involved? That image of a business is important. I would almost say it’s underrated and neglected.
Starting online, are you showing ads to the desired demographic? Use your best-performing content (blog posts, infographics, videos) and get in front of their eyes on their screens on mobile and desktop. Yes, there is a lot of noise in the digital world, but everyone will consume good content.
Takeaway: Stay top-of-mind with the community. Create a positive image of your brand and company name
Get Them Engaged
With your presence in the local community and across the digital world, the next goal is to get that top talent to engage with your talent. That means getting a click to your website, having them watch some of your video or possibly following your Facebook page.
Now that they are engaged, your targeted talent has moved further into the funnel and you can share the content that drives leads. It’s great this top talent is aware of your brand, but that doesn’t help your business. They aren’t working for you. That’s what we want.
But they are aware of you and that changes your marketing strategy.
This is where you share the content that drives leads. Is it an eBook? Is it a lead generation ad on Facebook? Is it to sign up for your newsletter? Those are just three of the numerous options where you can collect contact information and let your team go to work on recruitment.
Takeaway: What is your best content that collects contact information and drives leads for your recruiters?
Retention
You may be thinking “how does marketing play into the retention of your top talent?” I agree, it’s going to be a little difficult and it might single out some of your top performers, but that might not be a bad thing.
Does your company host webinars? Give them the opportunity to run that webinar and showcase their abilities to the world.
Highlight their writing and knowledge in blog posts and eBooks. Share that content on social media. Send it to your clients. Make sure to emphasize who wrote the content. Portray your top talent as a thought leader in the industry. Not only does it help your company, but it helps build their personal brand.
Takeaway: Highlight your top performers as thought leaders. Help your company and build their brand.
Create Your Plan to Attract, Land and Keep Top Talent
Recruiting is hard. (You don’t need me to tell you that). The employment numbers make it even harder. Creating a plan that focuses on the strengths of your business and shares your educational content will lead to success.
It takes a plan. It takes investment. It takes patience. But it can be done.
